Research Interests

My current interests are on molecular and cellular mechanisms of the immune system
in response to pathological and non-pathological threats to the host.

Current Projects

Research focus is on various aspects of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of the
immune system in response to potentially adverse pathological and non-pathological
threats to the host. This resulted in pioneering work on immune gene structure and
function with emphasis on IgE and its receptor and their roles in allergies, parasite
immunity and mast cell biology. Studies of the pathogen, Clostridium difficile, provided
insight into molecular mechanisms of toxin A and B production, biological activity
and mechanism of toxicity. The innate immune response at the fetal-maternal interface,
reflecting a non-pathological threat, is my most recent research focus.

We have observed that highly cytotoxic lymphocytes of the innate immune system, maternal
natural killer (NK) cells, accumulate at the fetal-maternal interface in embryonic
development – presumably a maternal response to the fetal allograft perceived as foreign
by the mother. We have also observed a large maternal protein, cubilin, accumulates
exclusively in the cytotoxic granules of the uterine NK cells, but not in other NK-cells.
Consequently, our hypothesis is that cytotoxic uNK cell responses are dampened by
molecular mechanisms involving cubilin, so the fetus can progress to term via a normal,
healthy pregnancy. In contrast, without regulation of the maternal innate immune system,
pregnancies may be aborted via aggressive uNK cells towards the fetal allograft. Thus,
understanding the basic mechanism(s) of NK cell regulation may be helpful for maintaining
a normal healthy pregnancy, and eventually for reducing tissue transplant rejection.
Immunotherapy of some cancers might also become more efficacious and the severity
of some autoimmune diseases may be reduced.